EASTER is about triumph, redemption and new beginnings. It is a holy occasion that men and women reflect on to find meaning or purpose in their lives.

Animals don't know Easter, although some of them have luckily experienced salvation and second chances, too. One of them is Sassy, a six-year-old female pit bull who had a dark past. Sassy used to viciously fight other pit bulls as victims of a brutal dog fighting syndicate that operated in the Laguna province.

On March 2012, Sassy and 265 other pit bulls were rescued. Some of them didn't last long in this world but others like Sassy managed to hold on while they are being rehabilitated at a private animal sanctuary. Sassy's fate even got better the day she was adopted into a loving home.

Sassy's life is an Easter story.

Today, Sassy is a picture of happiness. To prove it, here are four photos taken during Black Saturday 2017.

REUNION OF FORMER LAGUNA PIT BULLS (from left to right) Nana, Sassy and Iris met again at an awareness campaign held at the Bonifacio High Street in Taguig during Black Saturday. These friends have been adopted already. (Photo by MetroPets)

By ALMA J. BUELVA

THERE are still over 90 rehabilitated pit bulls at a shelter facility in Quezon province waiting to be adopted into loving homes. The dogs are part of the 266 pit bulls that CARA Welfare Philippines helped rescue from an infamous and brutal dog fighting syndicate back in March 2012.

Those who are interested to give the remaining pit bulls their permanent homes should coordinate with CARA by first visiting the helpsavethepitbulls.com website to know about the requirements for adopting a dog. Those who can't adopt but still wish to help may sign up as a volunteer or donate much-needed cash and items such as food and medicine.

Meanwhile, CARA continues with its latest fund-raising drive called “Give me 5” that seeks a minimum donation of P500 per person to cover the needs of one shelter animal and one Laguna Pitbull for one day. The animal welfare group estimates that each of their ward at least needs P250 a day for food, medicine, staff care and shelter.

A two-toned beauty with big, perky ears, Cynthia is one of the rescued Laguna pit bulls. She’s reasonably calm and is quite good on-leash. She seems to interact with other dogs quite well too. (Photo from helpsavethepitbulls.com)

TWO of the eight South Korean men behind a major dog fighting ring in the Philippines were deported last week, the Wall Street Journal (Asia) reported. The report, which quoted Rosevida Nabong, an attorney for the Philippines’ Bureau of Immigration, also said that four more will be deported back to South Korea in the near future. Also, one of those charged is said to be still fighting deportation while the other one is facing additional criminal charges.

Almost three years ago, authorities raided the Koreans’ compound somewhere in Laguna, 85 kilometers south of Manila. They found around 300 pit bulls chained inside steel oil drums, some in very bad conditions. The dogs were forced to fight each other, sometimes to death, while filming them online for the consumption of online gamblers in South Korea and in other parts of the world. Animal welfare group Compassion and Responsibility for Animals (CARA) is currently caring for 149 of the rescued pit bulls. Another 11 have been adopted and the others have been euthanized for health or other reasons. The Wall Street Journal also reported that a South Korean foreign ministry spokesman said in an email that South Koreans who have “substantially compromised national dignity” while overseas could have their passports restricted for between one to three years depending on the “gravity of the person’s sentence.” Dog fighting is illegal in both South Korea and the Philippines.